WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL09) added an amendment to The North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act (H.R. 8) that will prevent utilities from misusing and sharing personal data that they collect from smart meters. The act passed the House today 249-174.
“There are over 40 million smart meters in use today,”Congressman Grayson said. “Every appliance being manufactured now can have a unique IP address. This means that, using smart meters, utilities can have access to information about how often, at what time, and for how long you use every electronic device in your house.”
Rep. Grayson’s amendment would prohibit local publicly owned electric utilities, electrical corporations, or gas corporations from sharing, disclosing, or otherwise making accessible to any third party a customer’s electrical or gas consumption data. It would also require those utilities to use reasonable security procedures and practices to protect a customer’s unencrypted electrical and gas consumption data from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure.
“Right now there are no protections for consumers when it comes to how utilities collect and use smart meter data,” Congressman Grayson said. “It could be sold to third-parties for marketing, be used in legal proceedings, or abused in hundreds of other ways that we haven’t even considered. We cannot allow this type of unfettered access and control of individuals’ data.”
“The right to privacy must be protected whenever new technology emerges,” Congressman Grayson added. “We don’t know how much, and what types, of data smart meters will be sending to utilities in the future. That’s why it’s important to have these restrictions in place on how the data can be used before any problems exist.”
This is the 23rd amendment introduced by Congressman Grayson that has been passed by the House of Representatives this year. Called “the most effective member of the House” by Slate, Congressman Grayson has had more amendments passed in the past three years than any other member of the House.
Congressman Alan Grayson represents Florida’s 9th Congressional District, which includes Osceola County, as well as parts of Orange and Polk counties.
